I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring an application processor and, more particularly, to systems and methods for monitoring the processing of applications for a financial product.
II. Background Information
Financial institutions, including those offering credit card accounts, financial loans, and other financial products, process thousands of applications a day. To process such a large number of applications, a financial institution may use an automated application processor that automates the process of accepting, analyzing, approving, and rejecting of new applications received from consumers. One such application processor is the Capstone Decision Manager offered by HNC Software, Inc. of San Diego, Calif. Such application processors are rule-based systems that invoke processing rules to determine what action to take on an application based on the information provided by the consumer.
For instance, a consumer may have been offered via a directed mailing campaign a credit card product having a particular credit limit. The application for that credit card product may allow the consumer to select a desired credit limit as long as the desired credit limit is less than or equal to the offered credit limit. In this case, the application processor may include a rule that rejects applications in which a credit limit desired by the consumer is greater than that originally offered. The rule may further define that a particular type of letter should be sent to the consumer based on, for example, whether the application was denied because the consumer requested a credit limit that was too high.
While application processors can streamline the processing of applications for a company, it is not uncommon for an application processor to make mistakes during the processing of applications. For example, an application processor may not correctly invoke a processing rule because the rule was configured incorrectly. Since configuring certain processing rules can become an arduous and complex task, incorrectly configured rules can occur frequently.
Erroneously processed applications can be especially detrimental for a financial institution offering a particular financial product. For example, if a financial institution mistakenly approves a consumer having a poor credit rating for a credit card, then the financial institution will expose itself to excess risk of default by that consumer. Conversely, if the financial institution mistakenly denies a consumer a credit card, then the financial institution loses the revenue that it would have generated from that credit card account. In addition, federal consumer credit laws also place standards on financial institutions to fairly and accurately process credit card applications submitted by consumers.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods that can monitor the accuracy of an application processor to ensure that the automated processing is achieving acceptable standards. Moreover, there is a need for systems and methods for monitoring a rule-based application processor which can identify which rules are invoked incorrectly so that an institution can take appropriate corrective measures.
Systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present invention monitor the processing of an application processor, including the processing of applications for a financial product. Further, consistent with embodiments of the invention, systems and methods may be provided to monitor a rule-based application processor to determine the accuracy of the application processor when it invokes various processing rules.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a system is provided for monitoring an application processor. The system, for example, includes a configuration tool for configuring an audit used to verify whether the application processor correctly invoked a processing rule. The application processor invokes such a processing rule to determine what action to take with respect to a particular application. An audit engine then searches a set of application data generated by the application processor to identify, based on the configured audit, application data where the application processor correctly invoked the processing rule. An output report generator then generates report data reflecting whether the application data correctly invoked the processing rule.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for monitoring an application processor. The method, for example, configures an audit used to verify whether the application processor correctly invoked a processing rule. The application processor invokes the processing rule to determine what action to take with respect to a particular application. The method then searches a set of application data generated by the application processor to identify, based on the configured audit, application data where the application processor correctly invoked the processing rule. The method then generates report data reflecting whether the application data correctly invoked the processing rule.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the embodiments of the invention as claimed.